good article by paul amy:

DES Nolan was an unforgettable character of cricket in the south-east region.

His love of the game was apparent to all he encountered around the grounds and he expressed his opinions on it forthrightly and colourfully.

Everyone knew when "Dessie'' was around.

Nolan's death last night at age 76 took from local cricket a man who served it as faithfully and capably as anyone in the past 50 years.

He was a formidable force, as a player, coach, selector and no-nonsense administrator at club and association level.

Des and Denise Nolan arrived in Dandenong in 1966, the year they were married, and he hooked up with the Methodist club.

No one ever called him a great player but he was a fierce competitor and played in two Turf 1 premierships.

"I bowled off four yards but I had reasonable pace. I used to have two slips, a gully and the keeper talking to the batsman over the stumps,'' he said in an interview with the Dandenong Leader in 2006.

"I played it hard on the field, always. Hard but fair. But when we finished I'd be the first player to have a drink with you for three hours.

As he approached his 50th year he was filling in down the grades. But his inability to distinguish between a boy and a girl prompted his retirement.

"We were playing F troop, against Hampton Park, and I said well batted and patted the player on the back. But when something at the front bounced forward I thought, 'It's time to stop'.'' The story was finished with a gust of laughter.

While he was still playing at "Methos'' Nolan took charge of the DDCA Under 21 team. Selecting players he regarded as disciplined and with a willingness to play for the team, Nolan oversaw the association's first win in the Cricket Union of Victoria competition, in1984/85.

Later, he got involved in Dandenong's Dowling Shield teams and he became tight with Cameron White, now captain of Victoria. Nolan thrilled in Whites progress to big cricket.

The Panthers made Nolan a life member in 2004. The same honour was bestowed on him at Methodist (1977), the DDCA (1985) and the CUV (2001).

There was also an Australian Sports Medal for service to cricket.

Although there was bluster about Nolan he admitted it concealed a sensitive side.

He loved his family and always strove for a happy home.

His own childhood was unhappy. He grew up just outside of Wycheproof, living with his grandfather and aunts and uncles in what he described as a "plonk shop''with 17 rooms, hessian walls and no running water or electricity.

The only thing his mother ever did for him, he said bitterly, was toss a jug of beer over his head on his 21st birthday.

"When I left Wycheproof I was going to work my way around the world,'' he said.

But he made it only to Lara. Soon after, he started out as a postie and met Denise, the daughter of a district postal manager, on a blind date in Geelong. Theirs was an enduring partnership.

"She's put up with a lot,'' Nolan said in 2006, remembering rowdy Saturday nights at their little flat in Pultney St when 11 Methodist cricketers would fix their thirst.

He was always a Melbourne Bitter man, believing it never produced hangovers, which came in handy for 6am starts on his mail run.

He'd get up, have a couple of cold pies and a can of Coke, and away he'd go, the Pedaling Postie, as his old mate Ian McDonald dubbed him.

News of his death last night prompted a flurry of tweets from Dandenong cricket people.

"Des Nolan a great man. A heart-and-soul Panther, First XI batsman Mick Sweeney wrote.

"Thanks for encouraging us to be our best and take it up to the opposition, opener Brett Forsyth said.